This Italian island offers some of Europe's most diverse cuisine, with wine to match. From pesto to fried risotto and rolled beef, here's where to start.

By Nils Bernstein

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Pesto Trapanese

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Photo by Aaron Graubart

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“I think Sicily is probably the most interesting place in Europe,” says Celestino Drago, the LA restaurateur behind Drago and il Pastaio. Drago hails from Messina, in northern Sicily.

“Look how it’s situated geographically: Everyone stopped there, and everyone brought something. Even today, you see the Arab influence on the west coast and the Greek influence in the east.” Sicily also offers some of Italy’s most diverse cuisine. Even its most traditional dishes will vary from chef to chef and home to home. It provides an incredible range of options for an island that’s a mere four-hour drive from end to end.

“Anyone who wanted to control the Mediterranean needed to control Sicily,” says Gary Portuesi, president of the travel company Authentic Sicily. “Conquerors came and went for thousands of years, including the Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Normans, Spanish, Austrians, French, Germans and others, all bringing with them their ingredients: wheat, almonds, figs, eggplant, tomatoes, chocolate [and] peppers.” The following recipes are a taste of these varied flavors.

Photo by Aaron Graubart

This tomato-almond pesto is as versatile as the standard basil-pine nut version. Cherry tomatoes are the best year-round substitute for the island’s intensely flavorful sun-ripened tomatoes. In Sicily, this sauce is almost always served with busiate, a spiral-shaped pasta. You can coil your own fresh by winding thin strands of pasta dough around a skewer into a telephone-cord shape, or you can use fusilli or gemelli.

“Like apple pie in the U.S., caponata is a dish where every family has their own recipe and varies from town to town,” says Portuesi. “Some parts of the island include peppers, while others top it off with chocolate. This is my mother’s recipe, from Castellammare del Golfo on the Northwest coast.”

Frank Cornelissen 2014 Susucaru Rosato (Terre Siciliane). “Not typical, natural and lots of skin contact make this rosé super fun to sip on its own, but surely jumps out of the bottle even more with some great food,” says Rice. “This wine can stand up to the vibrant acidity in caponata, while also highlighting the delicate flavor of the vegetables.”

“When you think about Sicily, you think about arancini,” says Drago. “When we would cross from Calabria back to Sicily, we’d run to the bar upstairs on the boat, because if you were a little late, there were no arancini left.” The name for these fried risotto balls means “little oranges,” though they can come in other shapes. The cone-shaped arancini of Catania are meant to represent Mount Etna. The flour slurry they’re dipped in is called pastella, and it ensures a crispy coating.

Ingredients

2 cups panko breadcrumbs

8 cups chicken stock (preferably homemade)

¼ teaspoon saffron threads

3 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for frying

½ medium white onion, minced

2 cups Arborio rice

1 cup flour

1 egg

Kosher salt, to taste

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

¾ cup small-diced provolone

Directions

Grind breadcrumbs in food processor. Set aside.

Heat stock to simmer, and crumble in saffron. Keep warm over low heat.

In wide, deep pot over medium heat, melt butter with oil. Add onion and cook until golden, about 5 minutes. Add rice, and stir 1 minute. Add stock 2 cups at a time, stirring constantly. Let rice absorb stock before adding more. Cook until rice has loose, creamy texture (you may not need all broth), about 20 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Pour into rimmed baking sheet. Let cool completely.

In shallow bowl, beat flour and egg with 1½ cups water until smooth. Set aside. With wet hands, scoop ¼-cup rice ball into palm. Using thumb of other hand, make large hole in the center. Add 2 teaspoons provolone or other filling and enclose with rice, maintaining round shape. Coat in flour mixture, letting excess drip off. Coat with breadcrumbs.

The most common arancini filling in Sicily is ragu (meat and tomato sauce) with peas and cheese. Other popular fillings include minced mushrooms, prosciutto, eggplant, tomato and pistachios, always with a few bits of diced provolone dolce or mozzarella.

The name of this dish translates to “fake lean,” though it’s plenty rich. Serve on its own as a main dish, or as part of a buffet.

Ingredients

6 ounces ground pork

½ pound Italian-style pork sausage, casing removed

1 onion, sliced and divided

1¾ pounds boneless beef sirloin, cut into ¼-inch slices

2 hard-boiled eggs, sliced

3 strips bacon

¾ cup grated Pecorino cheese

2 garlic cloves, minced

Kosher salt, to taste

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Olive oil, for pan

1 cup dry red wine

2 cups beef or chicken stock

Directions

In large skillet over medium heat, sauté pork, sausage and ½ onion 10 minutes. Set aside.

Lay out beef slices on work surface, overlapping slightly, to make a 9-inch by 12-inch rectangle. Top slices with sausage mixture evenly. Add eggs, bacon, Pecorino and garlic. Season with salt and pepper. Roll up and tie with kitchen twine.

Coat deep skillet or Dutch oven (large enough to hold meat) with olive oil over medium heat. Add remaining onion. Add beef and brown very well on all sides. Transfer to plate. Add wine to pan, and scrape up browned bits. Cook until wine is almost evaporated. Return beef to pan. Add stock and reduce heat to low. Cook for 1 hour, turning occasionally.

Remove beef, and set aside. Boil sauce, if necessary, until it thickens like gravy. Serve in thick slices, warm or at room temperature, with a little pan sauce. Serves 4–6.

Directions

Biondi 2014 Outis Rosso (Etna); $40, 95 points. “Nerello Mascalese excels on the slopes of Mount Etna, yielding just the sort of savory, crisp, medium-tannin reds that pair well with this traditional dish,” says Nadel. “They have enough texture to complement the meat without clashing with the bold flavors of garlic and Pecorino.” This wine offers smoky and herbal notes, with polished tannins and fresh acidity in perfect balance.

Cannoli are ubiquitous in Sicily. But with apologies to the many fantastic pasticcerias, they’re always best made at home, as pre-filled cannoli shells can turn soggy quickly. In Sicily, dough is rolled around metal cannoli forms and deep-fried into shells, but this version adopts a technique from Central Italy, where delicate baked discs are rolled around wooden spoon handles.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 egg white

¼ cup superfine sugar

2 tablespoons 00 or all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon cocoa powder

Filling (see recipe below)

Powdered sugar and cocoa powder, for dusting

Directions

Preheat oven to 375˚F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Melt butter and let cool. Set aside. In bowl, whisk egg white until stiff, then fold in sugar. Sift flour and cocoa powder over egg mixture, and fold in. Trickle butter around sides of bowl, and fold in. Put 1 tablespoon of batter mixture onto prepared baking sheet, and spread into 4-inch circle. Repeat with remaining batter, making four circles on each baking sheet.

A fan of sweet wines, sour beers, and old-school Rioja, Bernstein is an exhaustive traveler in search of new and unsung chefs and restaurants, innovative wine and food pairings, and eating and drinking at the source. In addition to Wine Enthusiast, Bernstein has written for Bon Appetit, Men’s Journal, New York Times, Men’s Fitness, Hemispheres, and Kinfolk, among others.